Gee named interim principal at Marblehead High School

MARBLEHEAD-Longtime school administrator Sue M. Gee will be the interim principal of Marblehead High in 2009-2010, starting the first week of July.She will take the place of John Ziergiebel, who is leaving June 30 to undergo treatment for cancer.After a six-week process she was one of three top choices selected by a 16-member committee. Superintendent of Schools Paul Dulac interviewed all three June 18 and 19 and made his choice last week.The search committee included teachers, students, parents, administrators, staff and a School Committee member.Dulac told the School Committee at their last meeting that Marblehead received 20 applications for the position of principal after advertising in May, but did not feel there were enough strong candidates to select a settled successor to Ziergiebel.Instead, the committee unanimously decided to select an interim principal and begin a nation-wide search later this summer.?We hope to hire a (settled) principal before winter vacation,” Dulac said.He called Gee “an exceptional educator and an experienced high school principal.”Her resume includes principal and a director of vocational education in Burlington, VT, high school principal experience at Arlington Memorial High School, also located in Vermont and principal of O’Malley Middle School in Gloucester, where Ziergiebel previously served as assistant high school principal.The Santa Monica/Malibu Unified School District in California brought her in to work with three high school principals in that district to evaluate all the systems in those high schools.Dulac noted that she is an advocate for the coalition of Essential Schools led by high school education reformer Ted Sizer, and she has also worked with Howard Gardner from Harvard University, looking at different learning styles for students.?We are excited to have her on board here at Marblehead High School for the (next) academic year,” Dulac said.